The New York Times lead critic Michiko Kakutani made a splash on the internet this morning by publishing a review of Andrew O'Hagan's new book "The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe" in the voice of Brian the dog from the TV series "Family Guy."
Kakutani's review begins:
Brian the dog here. You know, the talking dog from "Family Guy": best-selling author, actor, television writer, movie director, song-and-dance ace, civil rights crusader and, yes, animal companion. Because of my sterling literary credentials, I've been asked to review this British pooch's new memoir: "The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe," ghosted by this novelist guy Andrew O'Hagan.
Sites including New York Magazine, Video Gum, and The Atlantic Wire have all weighed in on the piece.
One choice bit hints at the reviewers justification for writing the review:
I can't help wondering if this O'Hagan dude didn't take a little inspiration from me, Brian, in embellishing little Maf's autobiography. I mean, how many erudite, liberal-minded, book-writing, talking dogs can there be?
Another includes a cringe-worthy pun:
Before getting to all the juicy Marilyn material, Maf gives us an awful lot of back story, a whole dog-and-pony show about how he came to be the esteemed author of this book.
But what do you think?